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Graham Linehan, Sharon Horgan show marks the studio’s first TV partnership with the BBC.

‘Motherland’

Lionsgate UK has announced its first television partnership with the BBC after acquiring worldwide sales rights to comedy Motherland.

The six-part show about the traumas of motherhood is written by Graham Linehan (Father Ted), Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe), Helen Linehan and Holly Walsh and produced by Delightful, part of the Twofour Group, and Merman. A one-off episode debuted last year.

Lionsgate have previously worked with the BBC through co-producing BBC Films projects Their Finest, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, Brooklyn and the upcoming On Chesil Beach.

This deal follows recent Lionsgate UK book acquisitions for TV, including The People at Number 9 (from Harper Collins), The Other Side (from Myriad Editions) and Jerusalem based on the book by Simon Sebag Montefiore. …